Addressing machine and sheet feeding means therefor



pril 22, 1947. H, P, E| |QTT 2,419,345 v ADDRESSING MACHINE AND SHEETFEEDING MEANS THEREFOR April 22, l947- H. P. ELLIOTT 2,419,345

ADDRESSING MACHINE AND kSHEET FEEDING MEANS THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Feb. 8, 1943 Irrvenor,

April 22, 1947. H. P. ELLIOTT 2,419,345 l ADDRESSING MACHINE AND SHEETFEEDING MEANS THEREF'OR Filed Feb. 8, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 22,1947 H P ELUOTT 2,419,345

ADDRESSING MACHINE AND SHEET FEEDING MEANS THEREFOR 152 26 I EL f8 2s vD Y 1- Y Y Inverror. M R M Patented Apr. 2N2, 1947 ,UNlxrED `-STAT Es ifFICE v ADDREssING MACHINE AND SHEET f vFEEDING MEANS 'rnEEEFoE HarmonrP. lliott, Watertown, Massi.V A Application February s, i943, serialNo. 475,072

sheets to the successive printing devices to receive Y imprints of theaddresses thereon. y

In the mechanical feeding of successive work sheets into and out ofaddress receiving position, and especially where the line of work feedis crcsswise of the line of advance of the printing devices orstencils', and especially where the work sheets are thin` it has beendesirable heretofore to have the leading edge portion of the sheetprolect suilciently beyond the addressing position so that it can begripped by 'a part of the i'nechanical feeding mechanism to advance thesheet after the addressing operation. This has required the positioningof the address a substantial di-stance rearwardly of the leading edge ofthe sheet, whereas, it is frequently desirable to` place the addressclose to the leading edge of the sheet. While in some instances theaddress is not desired to bev close to the leading edge of the sheet,the addressy maybe carried by a wide printing device that may contain`other information in addition to the address so that the leading edgeof the sheet when in position to receive the address of the wideprintingdevice does not project beyond the printing device, or at leastsufficiently so to :be engaged by a sheet feeding means; and especiallysheet feeding rolls. Y Y

Hence, an object of the present invention is the provision of sheetfeeding mechanism asseciated withV an addressing machine of the typedescribed having provision for advancing the sheet, especially in adirection'crosswise of the line of printing device advance, intoprinting position wherev if. desired the address is applied close to theleading edge of the sheet and where the leading edge of the sheet in theaddressing position thereof is not conveniently accessible beyond theaddressing mechanism.

Another object of the invention consists in advancing to the printingposition a superimposed collection of sheets to be addressed, the sheetsof 5 claims. (ci. roi-*48) 2 rangement the sheets are mutuallyself-supporting so that if desired relatively vthin flexible sheets canbe advanced by front feed rolls into and beyond the printing positionand into theengagement of feed rolls located convenientlybehind theaddressing position, the two sets of rolls being concurrently operablethe same peripheralextent.

and being spaced apart less than the width of the sheets.

vA further object is generally to improve the construction andloperation of addressingy machines and particularly sheet feedingdevices therefor. Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation through the machineembodying the invention taken generally along the line of sheet feed.

Fig. 1a is a continuation of Fig. 1 and illustrating the lower partofthe machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of theY machine of Fig. 1, the inking mechanism,the printing head and certain other elements being removed or brokenaway to illustrate more particularly the sheet feeding mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a detail showing of mechanism for holding a pressure rollofthe sheetextractor mechanism idle when desired.

Fig. 4 is anenlarged sectional detail taken, along line 4-4 of Fig. 2and illustrating particularly the sheet feeding mechanism.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken through the stencil track in themedian line of sheet feed and illustrating the arrangement of the sheetsat the printing position.

Fig. 6 is an elevational detail of the sheet extractor drum looking atthe right hand end oi' the machine as shown in Fig. 1. e Y

Fig. '7 is an enlarged rather diagrammatic sectional detail taken alongthe median line of sheet advance and illustrating the manner in whichthe collectiony of `superimposed sheets is advanced through the printingposition.

Fig. 8 is aplan view of one ofthe work sheets.

The invention is herein illustrated as applied to and associated with anow well known type ofv addressing machine wherein they addresses orother data are contained on a collection of stencils that are advancedin succession through the the collection being staggered lengthwise ofthe line of sheet advance so that the address receiving portion of eachsheet is exposed to the action of a printing device and progressivelyremoving from the collection theV lowermost addressed sheets and addingto the topl of the collection additional address receiving sheets. Bythis ar- 3 tal rails 28 constituting a stencil track. the rails beingspaced above the top of the table to permit work sheets to be addressedto pass between the rails and the table.

The printing mechanism that operates on ,the successive stencils in thetrack includes a printing head 30 having in the illustrated instance afiat printing or impression plate 32 combined with suitable inkingmechanism 33 not herein essential to describe for inking the impressionplate at each operation thereof. The fiat impression K plate isparticularly adapted for use with wide passage 36 through which' theaddress sheets are adapted to pass. The yoke is pivotally mounted on ahorizontal axis as at'38 on a bracket 40 secured to the under side ofthe table and carrying at its lower end a horizontally disposed shaft 42on which an operating arm 44 is mounted for oscillatory movement. Saidarm above the shaft is integral with a cam arm 46 having a. cam face 48at its upper end that cooperates with a roller 50 carried by the forwardpart of a pair of platen arms 62. The rear parts of said arms arepivoted to the bracket 40 at 54. The arms at the forward ends areintegral with a platen 56 that is reciprocable through an aperture 58 ofthe table into and out of position underlying a stencil in the trackwhen it is in printing position under the impression plate 32 andserving to hold the work sheet and, in this instance, a superimposedcollection of Work sheets, under the stencil to receive th'e pressure ofthe impression plate.

It will thus be understood that as the arm 44 is reciprocated the platenis caused to be raised and lowered and also to be heldin raised positionwhile the impression plate is moved down into printing engagement withthe stencil thereunder and then starts its upward movement.

The operating arm 44 also reciprocates the yoke to swing the impressionplate into and out of engagement with the underlying stencil. To thisend the yoke 34 has integral therewith a depending arm 60 which has alink connection 62 with 4 an operation of the printingmechanism thesheet feed will also be arrested while the operation of the stenciladvancing mechanism is continued. The manner of accomplishing thisresult is now understood in the art and need not be specincallyillustrated or described herein.

The particular sheet which' the present machine is adapted to feed andaddress comprises the sheet 68, specifically illustrated in Fig. 8,being a time record card. This card has a space 10 at the top adapted toreceive the address 12 and other pertinent data which is printed closeto the top or leading edge 14 of the card. The card herein shown isapproximately '7" long by 4" wide, although the precise dimensions arenot important for the present invention. The address 'l2 is appliedcrosswise of the card.

The sheet feeding mechanism includes a pair .of upper front feed rolls80 having toothed or knurled sheet engaging peripheries and locatedclose in front of the front stencil rail 28. Said rolls are fixed to adrive shaft 82 rotatably supported on a bar 84 fixed removably by endscrews 66 to the top of the table and spaced vertically thereabove toallow the sheets to pass thereunder. The rolls 80 cooperate withunderlying rolls 88 which operate through the table and serve to pressthe sheets against the under surfaces of the rolls 80. Said rolls 88 arerotatable on the ends of pivoted arms 80 constantly urged by springs v82in an upward direction.

The machine also has a pair of rear feed rolls 84 located close to therear part of the stencil and operating in part in slots cut in the rearstencil rail 28. Said rolls 84' are xed to an operating shaft 96-Journalled on a bar 88 carried by and located above the table 20. Thebar at its` right hand end carries an upstanding bracket |00 in which ashort shaft |02 is journalled. Said shaft at its right hand end hasfixed thereto a ratchet wheel |04 engaged by a pawl |06 carried by areciprocating arm |08 journalled on said shaft |02. Said arm isreciprocated Vby a slotted link ||0 by means of the operating arm 44,the arrangement being such that as the arm 44 moves in acounter-clockwise direction the yoke is moved onits pivot in a clockwisedirection to lower the printing head and press it against the underlyingstencil and work sheets.

The operating arm 44 is oscillated by means including a connecting rod64 from an eccentric driven by the shaft 66 of the power plant 26, saidshaft having a clutch controlled connection, now common in the art, withthe continuously rotating parts of the power plant, the connection beingunder control of a foot treadle or equivalent so that the printingoperations can be started and stopped under control of the operator. Thesheet feed hereinafter to be described, and especially the feed forremoving successive work sheets from a holder, is operated by said shaft66 so that the starting and stopping of the shaft 66 not only controlsthe printing operation but also the sheet feed.

The illustrated machine is not herein arranged for selector control butin instances where selector control is provided and where some stencilsare passed through the printing position without a pin ||2 carried by anupstanding bracket ||4 of the yoke 34. The ratchet feed is' now commonin the art and need not be further described.

The stroke of the ratchet and hence the amount A of sheet feed can beadjusted by the screw ||6.

The shaft |02 at the left hand end has fixed thereto a gear ||8 whichmeshes with a gear |20 fixed to the rear feed roll shaft 86 so that theshaft 86 is caused to advance intermittently l by steps determined bythe stroke of the pawl and ratchet.

When the machine is adapted for ordinary sheet feed, that is to say,where single sheets are advanced through the printing mechanism and thenovel features of the present invention are not utilized, the shaft 86can be advanced intermittently by sliding the gear |20 along its shaftuntil it is in mesh with a-larger gear |22, see especially Fig. 2,mounted on an up` standing bracket |24 of the bar 88 and operatedintermittently by the usual one way clutch |26 and the operating rod |28from the reciprocating yoke 34. The shaft 82 of the frontv feed rollshas a gear |30 fixed thereto which is in mesh with an upper gear |32journalled on a shaft |34 carried by a bracket |36 of the bar 84. Thegears |32 and ||8 are connected for conjoint rotation by an interveninglarge idler gear |38 which is rotatably supported by a shaft |40 carriedby an arm l|42 loose on the shaft |34 and supported thereby. Whendesired, the arm |40 with its gear |88 can be swung` in acounterclockwise direction, Fig. 4, to operatively disengase the twosets of feed roll shafts. With this arrangement both shafts andconsequently both sets of front and rear feed rolls are advancedsimultaneously by equal amounts'. Both that one will surely assume vaposition on top l of the trailing edge of the previously advanced setsof feed rolls have the same diameter and hence feed the sheets equally.Y

The collection of sheets is pressed against the rear feed rolls 94 byidler rolls |44 supported in a yoke |46 pivoted to the under part of thetable at |48 and urged upwardly bya spring |50.

Treadle operated release mechanism operatedy through a link |52connected with a treadle |53, Fig. la, serves to effect the lowering ofthe 'rolls |44 when desired to disable the operation of the rear feedrolls. Thel sets of front and` rear feed rolls are` spaced apart lessthan thelength of sheet. 'I'he extractor drum |68 rotates constantly butits peripheral extent is longer than "a work sheet so that there is apart of each revolution of the drum during which it does not advance asheet.

A work sheet is delivered by the drum and by the notch |16 therein up tothe bite of the front feed rolls 80 at the time the rolls are stationaryand in such position, see Fig. 1, that when the lfrolls 80 rotate theyadvance the sheet. Inasmuch as the'- extentof\sheet advance by saidrolls is relatively short and is considerably less than the length of asheetthere is always a trailing portion of the-sheet under the rollsthat projects-forwardly -ofthe rolls. Thus a sheet which has beenadvanced into position to`be a work sheet and lthe amount of feedadvanceVv journalled inY depending brackets |62, see esc.

pecially Fig. 6, of a part of the table. Said drum is driven in timedrelation with the operation of the printing vmechanism through asprocket |64 normally loose on the shaft |60 and a chain |66 from theclutch controlled shaft 66 of the power plantso that the work sheet feedoperates only when-the printing mechanism is in condition for operation.

The present machine is not equipped with selector mechanism and hencemakes a printingl operation on every stencil that comes into 'printingposition. It is common in the art,

however, to equip addressing machines of the type herein illustratedwith selector mechanism so that`unwanted stencils can be passed throughthe machine Without making a printing operation thereon in whichinstance it is also desired to stop the paper feed. The means foraccomplishing this result are well understood and hence no descriptionis deemed necessary. The sprocket |64 has a disengageable or clutchconnection with a sleeve |68 for driving the sleeve. The sleeve has adriving connection with the shaft |80 and is axially movable thereon sothat the driving connection between the sleeve and the sprocket |64 canbe interrupted when desired. The sleeve |68 is adapted to be manuallyoperated and in the normal operation of the machine is in the normalclutch connection with the sprocket.'

' Above the sprocket and in front of the gate |56 is a spring urgedidler roll |10 which cooperates wlth a circumferential rib |12 of thedrum to advance the extracted sheet forwardly toward the front feedrolls 80. The initial extraction is performed. by friction segments |14now common in the art but the final positioning of the leading edge ofthe work sheet up to the bite of the forward rolls 80 is accomplished bya notch |16 in the rib |12 which engages the rear edge of the Work sheetand advances it up to aposition to be engaged by the feed rolls 60 whensaid feed rolls next advance. A holddown roll |18 pivoted on a freelymovable arm |60 in front of the roll |10 serves to hold the advancingpaper sheets down on the table so 'position is constant.

engagedbythe rolls overlies in part'the underlying sheet that alreadyhas been advanced part way.- Thus a collection of work sheetsaccumulates under the front feed' rolls. The arrangement of the parts issuch that an intermediate sheetl 88 of the collection has its forward orleading portion exposed under the stencil in position to receive theaddress. With the particular stencil herein utilized in connection withthe machine the address is borne by the upper part of the stencil onlyor at least this is the ronly part that is intended to print on theunderlying work sheets vand lthe forepart of the next upper work sheetcan underlie to some extent the stencil as is illustrated in Fig. 7. Asherein illustrated, the address is applied to the third from the topwork sheet.

After the address has been applied the feed rolls are rotated to advancethe collection of This posisheets by another step of advance. tions theexposed forepart of the next upper sheet in position to receive theaddress and entrains in the collection the sheet which up to therotation of the feed rolls has been positioned y to' be engaged andadvanced by the -feed rolls. Thus the exposed foreportlonsof thesuccessive sheets are advanced and with each advance a new sheet isadded to the collection sothat the number of sheets passing through theprinting The spacing of the front and rear feed rolls 80 and 94 issomething less than the length of a work sheet so that there is alwaysat least o'ne sheet that is engaged by both feed rolls and hence theunderlying sheets are supported in part by such sheet and are advancedtherewith as well as being pushed forwardly by the front feed rolls.Thus the sheets are supported at least in part one by the other as theypass through the printing position.

The sheets are advanced by the rear feed rolls through the passage 36 inthe loop, a suitable guide |62 being provided, and pass upon a lowerextractor drum `|34 vjournalled between arms of a bracket |86 carried bythe top part of the table in the rear of the loop 34.` An idler roll |68is dispos'ed above the collection of vwork sheets and presses them ontotlie drum |84.

- The idler drum is carried by a swinging arm `|90 xed to a shaft |92rotatable in a bracket |84 suitably supported by parts of the frame |66that support the inking mechanism. The shaft has a laterally extendedpin |98 therein adapted to be engaged to swing the shaft angularly bythe cam to hold the roll away from engagement f speed than the drum |84and is driven concurrently with the drum by a belt 2|0 passed about endprtionsof both drums and also passed about a driving pulley 212 fixed toa constantly rotating shaft 214 supported in suitable brackets in therear of the machine, the shaft beingdriven continuously through a belt218 from the constantly rotating shaft 220, see Fig. 1a, of the powerplant.

I claim:

1. In an addressing machine having a printing position, a sheet feedingmeans at the approach to the printing position and a sheet feeding meansbeyond the printing position and spaced substantially from said approachsheet feeding means, means coacting with the approach sheet feedingmeans for assembling work sheets into a train of overlapping worksheets, and means for intermittent drive of said sheet feeding means forstep by step advance of the train of overlapping work sheets thereby toadvance the leading edge portion of each sheetin succession to theprinting position, said substantially spaced sheet feeding meanssupporting the train of Work sheets as a bridge spanning the printingposition and constituting the only support for the said bridge of worksheets during each advance ofthe train,

2. In an addressing machine having a printing position, a pair of feedrolls at the approach to the printing position and a pair of feed rollsbeyond the printing position, means for intermittent drive of. the feedrolls, and means coacting with the approach pair of feed rolls forassembling work sheets into a train of overlapping work sheets, thelatter said means including a rotating drum for thrusting the leadingedge of an incomingwork sheet into the bite of the approach pair of feedrolls while the latter are at rest following each operation thereof,said intermittent drive of the feed rolls advancing the train of worksheets step by step thereby to advance the leading edge portion of eachsheet in succession to the printing position, and said feed rollssupporting the train of work sheets as a bridge spanning the printingposition and constituting the only support for the said bridge of worksheets during each advance of the train,

3. In an addressing machine having a printing position,a pair of feedrolls 'at the'approach to the printing position and a pair of feed rollsbeyond the printing position, means for intermittent drive of the feedrolls, and means coacting with the approach pair of feed rolls forassembling work sheets into a train of overlapping work sheets, thelatter said means including a rotating drum for engaging work sheets insuccession which are to be added to the train, said drum having meansthereon for thrusting the leading edge of each engaged work sheet intothe bite of the approach pair of feed rolls while the latter are atrest, said intermittent drive of the feed rolls advancing the trainof-work sheets step by step thereby to advance the leading edge portionof each Ysheet in succession to the printing position, and said feedrolls supporting the train of work sheets as a bridge spanning theprinting position and constituting the only support for the said bridgeof work sheets during each advance of the train.`

4. In an addressing machine having a printing i position, a-pair of feedrolls at the approach to 1 the printing position and a pair of feedrolls be yond the printing position andspaced substantially from saidapproach pair of feed rolls, means coacting with the approach pair offeed rolls for assembling work sheets into a train of overlapping worksheets, and means for intermittent drive of the feed rolls for step bystep advance of the train of overlapping work sheets thereby toadvancethe leading edge portion of each work sheet in succession to theprinting position, said pairs of feed rolls supporting the train of worksheets as a bridge spanning the printing position and constituting theonly support for the said bridge of work sheets during each advance ofthe train, and the leading edge portion of at least one work sheet beingentirely supported during its advances at the printing position by otherwork sheets of the train.

' 5. In an addressing machine having a printing position, a pair of feedrolls at the approach to the printing position and a pair of feed rollsbea yond the printing position, means coacting with the approach pair offeedrollsfor assembling work sheets into a train of overlapping worksheets, said pair of feed rolls being spaced apart a distance less thanthe dimension between the leading and lagging edges of each work sheet,and means for intermittent drive of the feed rolls for step by stepadvance of the train of overlapping work sheets thereby to advance theleading edge portion of each work sheet in succession to the printingposition, said train of work sheets being supported at theprintingposition only by said spaced pairs of feed rolls, whereby a free spaceis left at each side of the train of sheets at the printing position.

HARMON P. ELLIOTT.

` REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof-this` patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

